Reading Questions for Chapter 9 (Part 2); Pages 178-189

1. Describe the delegates present at the Constitutional Convention. What

were their socio-economic backgrounds?

-after shays’s rebellion, control over commerce led to the constitutional

convention; interstate squabbling and tariff wars led to Annapolis
Convention= 9 states appointed delegates, but only 5 ended up being
represented and nothing was accomplished= 31 year old New Yorker,
Alexander Hamilton saved the convention with his report that asked them
to summon for a convention to meet in Philadelphia the next year to
bolster the entire fabric of the Articles on Confederation

-Annapolis Convention put teeth into forcing Congress to call for a real
constitutional convention to rework or throw out the Articles

-every state chose representatives, except for RI

-leaders were appointed by state legislatures who were all property holder
elite which made the delegates a select group or propertied men

-55 men met in Philadelphia May 25, 1787 in an intimate setting that
required compromise; sessions held in complete secrecy

-Washington was elected the convention’s chairman; his prestige quieted

overheated tempers; Franklin added urbanity and statesmanlike quality

-James Madison, then 36 and student of government and often nicknames

the “Father of the Constitution”; Hamilton, 32 a strong supporter of a
strong central government

-fiery Revolutionary leaders like Henry and Sam Adams were absent
which was probably a good thing

-55 delegates were wealthy, conservative, lawyers, merchants, shippers,

land speculators, moneylenders

-19 of 55 owned slaves; average age 42 (younger generation)

-nationalists (concerned with preserving and strengthening the new

young Republic than in further stirring the roiling cauldron or popular
democracy)
-wanted a stable political structure to develop

-firm, dignified, respected government

-believed in republicanism but sought to protect American experiment

from its weaknesses abroad and excesses at home

-stop pirates overseas, and give the central government enough power to
form strong treaties and regulate commerce in order to form commercial
relationships with European nations abroad-

-also wanted to preserve the nation; forestall anarchy; ensure security of

life and property against dangerous uprisings of ‘mobocracy’

-curb the unrestrained democracy rampant in the various states

-FEAR was the 56th delegate

2. How was our national Constitution both similar AND unlike the new
state constitutions?

-like a reversal of state constitutions, the new federal constitutions called

for a robust executive branch- president

-partially inspired by Mass where a popularly supported governor had put

down Shays’s rebellion

-president was to have broad authority to make appointments to domestic

offices (including judges) as well as veto power over legislation

-however, president as commander in chief was granted power to wage

war, but Congress the power to declare war

-division of responsibilities

-similar because the power remained strongly in Legislative branch

3. Give examples of what issues all delegates seemed to agree upon.

 -all agreed economically in sound money and in protection of private
property

-politically they agreed in a stronger government with 3 branches and

with checks and balances between them-

-all believed that universal manhood suffrage was something to be

feared and fought

-Daniel Shays frightened them- erected safeguards against excesses of

the mob

-for examples, federal judges were to be appointed for life, the

powerful president was only to elected by the electoral college
(indirectly by the people) lordly senators were chosen indirectly by
state legislatures- only the House of reps voted in by people were was
by qualified property citizens

4. How did the new Constitution embody ideas of republicanism?

-some democratic elements- the only legitimate government was one

derived its power from the people

-powers of government should be limited; specifically limited by a

written constitution

5. Create a chart/list comparing and contrasting the Federalists and Anti-

federalists.

Hottest debates in US history erupted when the US constitution was

presented to the states for ratification; Articles required 13 states and
RI would veto it so they said that all they need was 9 states to hold
conventions to ratify it

-Anti-Federalists: opposed the creation of a stronger central

government- opposed the passage of the constitution; included Sam
Adams, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee; states’ rights devotees,
 backcountry dwellers, one-horse farmers, the poorest classes- joined
by the paper-moneyites, and debtors, many of whom feared a potent
central government who would force them to pay off their debt

-many thought it was a plot of the rich to steal power back from the
common folk

-Federalists: had more power and influence on their side; George

Washington, Benjamin

Franklin, lived in settled areas on the seaboard, wealthier, more

educated and better

Organized; they also controlled the press- 100 newspapers were

published in the 1780s,

Only 12 supported the anti-federalist cause;

- The antis objected to the gilded trap of the constitution because it

had been drawn up by the rich aristocratic men and was thus
antidemocratic; they charged that the sovereignty of the states was
being submerged and that freedoms of the individuals were
jeopardized with the absence of the a bill of rights; upset over the
dropping of the annual elections of legislatures, the creation of a
standing army, the omission to any reference of God, the highly
questionable process of ratifying with only 2/3 of states

6. What were the last two states to ratify the Constitution?

-last 4 were VA, NY, NC, and RI (last two the most independent and
rugged states in the Union determined to hold on to their
independence and spirit)

7. What was promised by federalists in order to sway people to ratify the

Constitution?

-a Bill of Rights